Public Meeting Today for the future of School Lunch in LA
at the LAUSD Building at 4th and Beaudry – GOOGLE IT!
1:00 pm
They Validate! ( Park in the Visconti Lot)
Hi All –

Quick alert – and sorry for the last minute notice . . . I just got this on my facebook page this morning, and you know how I feel about eating well… Especially our youngsters.
When: Today, the school board will vote on whether or not to approve the current $290m/five-year food services (processors) contract.
KIDS SHOULDN’T EAT PROCESSED FOOD – IT HURTS THEIR BRAIN
What you can do: Please consider signing up to speak for 3 minutes to share what you think about the current program, and ask the board to postpone the vote for an opportunity to have a larger dialogue with parents and community.
Where do you go: register at the school board conference room at 4th & Beaudry to speak at 1p
Parking: parking is validated in the Visconti lot.
If you do not wish to speak – you can give your time to others

I don’t know if I can make it – I’m teaching cooking class with 7th graders at that time. But I’m gonna try really hard to get there before it’s over. feel free to text me with updates – 310 850 1884.

It’s always a good day at the garden school. Especially Earth Day; check out these awesome hats made in honor of our mother.

Earth Day In the Garden

Last year, we got lots of fruit trees donated and they are flourishing this season.

We're baring fruit

Last week, when we foraged, the kids picked all the green peaches, nectarines and plums.

OOPS. Good thing fruit is like hair… It’ll grow back.

This week I’ll have a more specific direction when they start searching for their second lunch, “forage on the ground floor only.” No trees. It was a heartbreaking moment for me, but they had a good time doing it!

Seriously GREAT night! Our leaders , Sunita and Indra Led us through 10 different recipes.

Sunita and Indra getting ready for the students

Sunita and Indra were flawless in there demonstrations and assistance and we made a FEAST! You’ll notice that some recipes have few to no amounts listed. If you weren’t at the class this may seem a little strange. I suggest you mix the spices together before adding and taste! The leading ladies suggested all the chefs that night could have used more onions. Make sure you have a gracious portion- don’t be skimpy, this is the base for much of the flavor.

Then: add the dal, ¾ cop of coconut milk and ¾ cup of water. Salt at the end.
Sprinkle with curry powder, just a bit.

Cucumber Salad – A Delicious Cold Pickle

Peel and cut the cucumber in quarters lengthwise.
1 tomato – Decide by taste whether to remove or leave the seeds. Slice small.
Add ¼ of a red onion, sliced the same size as the cucumber.
add green chile rounds.
Salt and Pepper to taste.
Squeeze on the juice of lime.
(Add Maldib Fish if you like.)
Chill and Enjoy

Sunita’s Recipes

Baingain bhartha

1) Poke a few holes in the eggplants. Roast until they are collapsed, turning every 20 minutes, for about an hour. Cool, and peel off charred skin. Set pulp aside.
2) Heat oil on medium-high heat in pan. Add some mustard seeds and asoefetida. When the seeds start popping, add the turmeric and sliced onions.
3) Sautee onions until clear. Add the salt, chili powder, garlic, and chopped tomato. Sautee a little longer.
4) Add the eggplant pulp and cook for a bit. Shouldn’t take too long as the eggplant is already roasted.
5) Garnish with chopped cilantro.
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Spinach-Lentils

(Note this one can take a while unless you decide to pressure cook the lentils first)
Soak the lentils first.

1) Heat the oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds.
2) When the seeds start popping, add the coriander, onions and turmeric.
3) Sautee until the onions are clear.
4) Add the garlic, coriander, sal, masala, spinach and lentils. Add a little water to cover.
5) Cook on medium low heat (for quite a while) until lentils are cooked through.
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Toor Dal

1) Heat the ghee in a pan on medium high heat. Add the curry leaves, mustard seeds, and chili powder.
2) Lower the heat and add the cooked dal and stir well.
3) When it starts boiling, add salt, masala, tamarind pulp and jaggery.
4) Add water to make it the consistency you desire.
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Cauliflower

1) Heat oil in pan. Add cumin seeds.
2) When seeds begin to sizzle, add asoefetida and chilies.
3) After a minute or two, add cauliflower and salt. Stir well to coat and cook.
4) Grate in fresh ginger to taste near end of the cooking.
5) When finished cooking, stir in chopped cilantro.

I’m catching up on my blog posts, and I realized there’s been so much I haven’t shared. I’m going all the way back to February when we did the premiere reception for “The Yellow Handkerchief.” It was one of those events when 300 folks come out of the screening and we need to be ready to serve! We’re real good at this kind of reception, and we can do it on a tight budget too.

First we set up the trays while the folks are watching he movie.

300 Salmon Canapes ready to go

I hire a great staff….

Party Makers

And we decorate a little bit.

Lighted Orchid Centerpieces

Come and get it!!

Vegetable Tapenade on Endive Spears

We are ready and waiting to serve you! This event was at the Silver Screen Theater at the Pacific Design Center. They are sticklers for the paper work and insurance nonsense, but the easy to work and elegant venue always creates a successful and enjoyable evening.

This coming Wednesday 4.21.10 starting at 6 pm the Earth Day festivities begin! We’ll be screening “DIRT – The Movie” It’s the latest film about how we can save our dear mother earth. We actually catered the the screening a few weeks at the Pacific Design Center – a zero waste event of course.

Simple Centerpieces

So come on around – bring a potluck dish to share. Park on the street and walk down the driveway next to Cal Asia. I’ll be making a few vegan offerings and some delicious Magic Mambo Punch. A 5$ donation is suggested to cover eatwares and beverages. The movie will start around 7 pm.